


Switch

by Camellianswer



Category: Rockman X | Mega Man X
Genre: Axl is only briefly mentioned, False Memories, Gen, Glitches, I Don't Even Know, I'm Bad At Tagging, Lumine gets into a strange car, Mystery, Pre-X8, and it gets stranger from there
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-10
Updated: 2019-07-11
Packaged: 2020-06-25 21:07:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19753840
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Camellianswer/pseuds/Camellianswer
Summary: Lumine gets a mysterious call from a mysterious scientist on a mysterious night…how mysterious! It is 2 am and I cannot write a summary at this moment.





	1. Chapter 1

Walking home, as he had taken to doing as of late, a gentle buzzing signaled an incoming call. Lumine tapped the aural patch and connected to the call. A deep, unfamiliar voice, oddly dim and faraway, sounded in his ears.

“Affirm, this is Lumine?”

Lumine smiled tiredly. “Nice try Axl, but I know it is you this time.”

“Axl is unknown. Confirm your identification. Lumine, correct?”

The smile faded from his face. “Excuse me. Perhaps you have connected to the wrong number?”

“Voice key positive. Please confirm your identification.” It was a dull computerized voice, limited interactive AI, possibly recorded from a human. “Lumine, correct? There is important information for Lumine. Please confirm.”

He weighed the pros and cons of going along with this strange voice’s demands. In the end, he decided to give them his name. There wasn’t much they could do with it, after all, not if he didn’t want them to. “This is Lumine. Who are you?”

“One moment.” A faint buzzing was on the line, and then a shift in the tone announced that an actual person had connected. “Hello, Lumine. I hope you’re doing well? We’ve had a beast of a time trying to contact you.”

“Practically everyone in the world knows my call code,” Lumine retorted cagily. “I find it hard to believe that you could not do the same.”

“Oh, your call code was not an issue, not an issue at all. You’ve been such a busy lad of late that we couldn’t find the right time to drop a line.”

“If you’re aware that I am busy, then get to the point. Why did you need to contact me in the first place?” He leaned against the wall, apparently at ease but actually every sense was highly alert, making sure that the call wasn’t a ruse to distract him from a real danger. For now, the area was clear.

“Very well then. My name is Switch. I have information that may interest you.”

Lumine sifted through his memory banks for data on anyone named Switch. A few candidates came up, but as they ranged from foreign singers to video game protagonists, he was certain that they had nothing to do with the man he was talking with tonight. One more possibility came up, one that intrigued him. “Switch? The name seems familiar. Were you involved with the BaBi. Long Island incident?”

“An unfortunate point in my career. Yes, I am that Switch.”

“Go on, Switch. You have my full attention.”

“Does the name Anima mean anything to you?”

“Other than its translation, no.”

“I thought so. We have much to talk about. Have you looked over your creation files?”

“Of course.” That was one of the first things he had done following activation. He felt it was important to know as much as he could about his inner workings, his fortes and foibles, and make conscious adjustments accordingly.

“Then you are familiar with your date of activation.”

He was not like humans and some very stupid Reploids, obsessed with their date of birth, but he knew his own. As he was about to reply, however, Switch’s voice cut him off.

“Your date of activation is 19-7-32, correct?”

“No. It is 2-9-34.” He was confused by Switch’s mistake.

“I assure you, Lumine, your date of activation is 19-7-32. It’s not your fault you’re unaware of this. Many things have been hidden from you, my lad, and it’s really not fair. Shall I explain?”

“I would appreciate that,” Lumine said in a hard voice.

“Very well. It’s best done face-to-face, however.” Lumine caught the faint whisper of a vehicle’s engine whirring, but realized it was much closer than it sounded. Some kind of cloaking device was in use. Moments later, a long, sleek, black car pulled up yards away from him. A door opened and Switch sat there in a muted orange glow, the picture of relaxation on the expensive seats. “There’s something you need to see, however, and I’m headed there now. I hope you don’t mind if I explain on the way?” Switch said calmly.

Lumine stared him down for a moment. This was, undoubtedly, all very strange. And yet, despite Switch’s reputation, Lumine had never had anything but respect for the man. If nothing else, this would be a diverting use of his time.

He stepped into the vehicle.

The doors shut and the cloaking device turned back on and the sleek car slipped seamlessly back into the night. Nobody even saw it pass.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let’s just say we’re getting close to the catalyst that sent Lumine down a dark path…
> 
> I should probably put this in a collection so that the timeline makes more sense.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lumine goes along with Switch, who informs Lumine that much of his memories are false; lies crafted to hide an unfortunate incident from years ago. Switch has obtained the original files on this incident and offers Lumine a glimpse of what might have been…

He looked critically at the scrolling data. “This is gibberish. It doesn’t make any sense.”

Switch nodded. “I thought that might be it. Looks like you won’t understand it until you download it directly.”

Lumine leveled cold eyes on him. Granted, he was immune to all viruses, but it would be a shame indeed if Switch was using this as a ruse to harm him in some way.

He WAS curious, however, and reasonably confident in his own ability to protect himself in any situation.

Lumine took the drive and stuck it into the port in his forearm. A brief message appeared – yes, of course he wanted to see the contents of the drive – and started downloading it.

“Now this, this…may affect you rather heavily, so be careful…”

Switch understated it. When Lumine took the data in, everything blanked out. It hit him like a blow to the head, sent him reeling. The floor was undulating, rippling beneath his feet, and pitched him to the ground.

Colors that should not exist and sounds that he was never meant to hear grated on his senses, invasive and pervading and continuing.

A system overload that even he couldn’t halt. Meaningless words spilled from his lips, spurts of raw data and slurred sentences spoken too quickly to have any hope of clarity.

His mind was forced full of twisted, confusing memory data, things that he never knew had happened pressed in on him in a sudden wave. Something had been unlocked, something he was nowhere near ready for. Someone had died; a PART of him had died…

Drowning, falling, burning, freezing, crushing, blinding, impossibly devastating…

Then it stopped, and he felt his inner workings shriek in protest, and he inhaled sharply as he came back to himself.

Propped on the floor on his hands and knees, ears ringing, close to overheating. He just breathed for a while.

_What was…_

_What IS this…_

_I can see…_

His habitual calm shattered briefly. A scream tried to escape from his throat, and he choked it back, pressing a hand against his teeth. Unutterable anguish, far stronger than any emotion he usually allowed himself, strangled his heart and he didn’t see how he could bear it.

“You’ll be alright in a few minutes,” Switch assured him. “It’s only reboot shock. Well…that and your past wasn’t a very pleasant one, was it? You…do remember it now, don’t you?”

Eyes wide, painfully wide. Still panting. But yes, he remembered.

He remembered.

Cold tears spilled over and slid down his contorted face.

“A…Anima was…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apparently, I’m hooked on writing about Reploids and devastating glitches. I’m sorry for the repetitive content. Finals are coming soon and I am in full school zombie mode.
> 
> Who or what is Anima?


End file.
